Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 23

Devanagari script

इतोप्यूर्ध्वं न संस्कार्याः पतिता धर्मवर्जिताः । व्रात्यस्तोमेन यज्ञेन तत्पातित्यं परिव्रजेत्

Transliteration

itopyūrdhvaṃ na saṃskāryāḥ patitā dharmavarjitāḥ | vrātyastomena yajñena tatpātityaṃ parivrajet

Translation

เมื่อเลยขอบเขตนั้นไปแล้ว ไม่พึงประกอบสังสการ (พิธีบวช/อุปนยนะ) ให้เขา; เขาย่อมเป็นผู้ตกต่ำ ถูกตัดขาดจากธรรมะ. ด้วยยัญญะชื่อ “วราตยัสโตมะ” ภาวะตกต่ำนั้นย่อมถูกชำระให้หมดสิ้นได้.

Word by Word

• itaḥ: from here; thereafter
• itaḥ: Adhikarana (Locative sense/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: itaḥ (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (indeclinable adverb): ‘from here/thereafter’

• api: also; even
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle): emphasis/also ‘even’

• ūrdhvam: afterwards; henceforth
• ūrdhvam: Adhikarana (Temporal/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ūrdhva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverbial accusative): ‘upwards/afterwards’

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (Negation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (negation particle)

• saṃskāryāḥ: fit to be consecrated/purified
• saṃskāryāḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective of subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃskārya (कृदन्त; √kṛ (कृ) + saṃ-; यत्)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; यत्-प्रत्ययान्त (gerundive/future passive participle): ‘to be purified/eligible for saṃskāra’

• patitāḥ: the fallen (persons)
• patitāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: patita (कृदन्त; √pat (पत्) क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (समूहवाचक), प्रथमा, बहुवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past participle) used substantively

• dharma-varjitāḥ: devoid of dharma
• dharma-varjitāḥ: Karta (Qualifier of subject/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + varjita (कृदन्त; √vṛj/varj (वर्ज्) क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष (षष्ठी/सम्बन्ध): ‘dharma-’ + ‘varjita’ = ‘deprived of dharma’

• vrātya-stomena: by the Vrātyastoma (rite)
• vrātya-stomena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vrātya (प्रातिपदिक) + stoma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘vrātya-stoma’ (a specific rite)

• yajñena: by a sacrifice
• yajñena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yajña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• tat-pātityam: that fallen state
• tat-pātityam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + pātitya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘that fallenness/state of being fallen’

• parivrajet: should renounce/wander as a mendicant
• parivrajet: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari-√vraj (व्रज्)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

Speaker

Skanda (deduced: Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda → Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Ṛṣis of Naimiṣāraṇya (typical frame; not stated in verse)

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A Vedic assembly in Kāśī: a learned ācārya instructs a remorseful vrātya/patita about Vrātyastoma; sacred fires, ladles, and ritual vessels are arranged, with the Ganga and ghats faintly in the background.

Characters & Entities

• Vrātyastoma
• Yajña

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Neglect of sacred duties has consequences, yet dharma also provides restorative rites for return to discipline.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse sits within Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s dharma-instructions; it is not a direct tirtha-glorification line.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

Vrātyastoma yajña is stated as the means to remove the condition of being ‘vrātya’/fallen due to lapse.